Colgate-Palmolive to Buy Filorga Skin Care Business for $1.69 Billion

Colgate-Palmolive (CL - Get Report) said it was buying the skin care business of the French company Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques for about $1.69 billion.

New York-based Colgate-Palmolive said the transaction will be financed with a combination of debt and cash and is currently expected to close in the third quarter. It is not expected to have an impact on earnings per share in 2019.

Filorga is an anti-aging skin care brand focused primarily on facial care, Colgate-Palmolive said. Founded in France in 1978, the brand is now sold in more than 60 countries with its largest markets being France, Italy, Spain and Greater China.

"Filorga is a strong, premium-priced brand with distinctive positioning that fits well within our long-term personal care growth strategy," Noel Wallace, Colgate's President and CEO, said in a statement. "We are excited that this acquisition will add a high-growth, profitable, global skin care asset to the Colgate portfolio with the opportunity to drive continued growth through expanded distribution and awareness. This acquisition also provides Colgate entry into the fast-growing and sizeable travel retail channel, particularly in Asia."

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive were off nearly 1% to $73.25 in premarket trading Friday.